Arlo Pro 2 Video Quality

[LeighJB]

I've recently installed a single Pro 2 and base station and getting very low quality video.
Having tried all the usual troubleshooting methods, I contacted my ISP to see if they could help and got a static IP address, still no improvement.
As i understand it, Arlo will adjust the video quality down if it detects low upload speeds, my upload is consistantly 3-4mbps with no other devices using my network.
What else can I do/try?

[michaelkenward]

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@LeighJB wrote:
...I contacted my ISP to see if they could help and got a static IP address, still no improvement.

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That's a new one. Probably one of those "let's try anything" moves.

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@LeighJB wrote:
my upload is consistantly 3-4mbps with no other devices using my network.

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Your upload speeds are less than great, especially when you start to do other things.

[LeighJB]

I would have thought that upload speed is sufficient, I only need the camera when I'm NOT at home, so nothing else is using it.

[michaelkenward]

What are the minimum requirements for installing and using my Arlo system?

Note, speeds are quoted per camera.

[LeighJB]

Yes understand that, I have ONE camera only

[StephenB]

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@LeighJB wrote:
Yes understand that, I have ONE camera only

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Your network is over the spec, so you should be ok with one camera.

Can you try sharing a one of your videos here?  If needed, aim the camera to a view that you are ok with sharing.

[LeighJB]

Sure, here's a still of my driveway, gate is approx 25ft away from the camera.
I can't even read the licence plate of my own car further than 10ft away!

[JessicaP]

Hi LeighJB,

Try setting your Arlo Pro 2 to "Best Video" on the "Power Management" settings. You can change this by going to Settings > Video Settings > Power Management.

Feel free to read more here to learn how to improve your image quality: How do I get better picture quality from my Arlo camera?

[LeighJB]

That was the first thing I did, all three modes have the same low image quality

[JessicaP]

Make sure that your signal strength is showing full bars to ensure the connection is strong between your camera and your Base Station. And try to remove the battery off from the Arlo Pro 2 camera and then re-insert it back in to see if that improves it.

[LeighJB]

Yes I have done all the basic troubleshooting. I should also note that in the live view and camera position set up sessions, there is an approx 15 sec delay in the feed.

[JessicaP]

I would suggest to contact the Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

[LeighJB]

This is quite disappointing to be honest.
The Arlo support was of no help at all, merely advised the basic troubleshooting that is in the manual or available online.
I joined the community to get some actual real world technical expertise on the problem I'm having.

[JessicaP]

Let me reach out to you via private message to gather more information from you since you reached out to the support team.

[appaddle]

Ever get anywhere with this?  Have had the same issues with our Pro 2's, in the same room w base station and can't read 4 inch tall letters printed on a box all of 12 feet away.

[LeighJB]

Unfortunately not, but the more I read other posts in the community on the same subject, the more I think I understand what is really going on here.

[StephenB]

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@appaddle wrote:

 can't read 4 inch tall letters printed on a box all of 12 feet away.

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Perhaps take a snapshot from the web ui, and post it here.

[mamarcac]

Arlo compresses the living heck out of the videos to save cloud server space. When the Ultras were released a bunch of us posted how we saw video quality degrade at  that time for non-Ultra cameras. There was one patch released last year that improved the quality but it's not 720p (or 1080p) by a long shot. One of the "gurus" on this site claimed HD resolution, I asked him to upload a sample video, and it was complete trash with compression, pixelation and ghosting.

The Arlo Moderators on this forum might be bots, that's not a joke. Sometimes users can help each other but that's about all you'll get.

[LeighJB]

What mamarcac posted is exactly what I was eluding to, and this is why I believe now there is no real solution to the problem. 

[appaddle]

Well that's a shame.  But good to know I wasn't taking crazy pills, thinking the image quality used to be different/better.

And a shame that despite our 2 Pro 2's and Arlo Baby, we returned the 3 camera kit we had recently bought ot extend our system, and cancelled our Arlo Smart subscriptions.  If a $25 Yi Home cam is giving me legible images, no need to spend more cash here.

If we didn't love our Arlo in the first place, we wouldn't have gotten the Arlo Baby...

[billkex]

I too have complained about the image quality. Especially on the recorded videos.

Prior to May 2019, it was amazing. I remember capturing a hummingbird up close on video. The quality was 1080. Sharp and clear.

After Arlo made some changes around May-June 2019, it all went to sh!t. Freezing, skipping, blurry images, pixelating, audio-video not in sync, etc.

However, I must admit, they did some updates and it improved, ...but it's still not as good as it used to be.

I doubt it's 1080.

I hear they are still working on it, so I am still hopeful that they can get it back to what it used to be.

[NewfieDrool]

Got to say that image is far from what I get and while the quality may not be the best yours does look real soft.

just to double check but do you use any type of QoS and if so it’s worth checking that as they can impact on speeds given you have a low upload.

Also check you are not getting interference on the channel that the base uses taking into account devices in the house that can interfere with 2.4.

Theres always a chance the product could be at fault too so I would keep going with support or exchange system under warranty just in case somethings at drift.

[LeighJB]

No QoS isn't used on my router, its disabled.

Support have literally been no help at all, complete waste of time actually.

How do you check this below?....
"Also check you are not getting interference on the channel that the base uses taking into account devices in the house that can interfere with 2.4"

[NewfieDrool]

Normally you would use a WiFi sniffer, ie something like WiFi explorer or similar. This shows networks in your area but not all as hidden channels don’t show up on many of the sniffers but in general it shows who’s using what channel near you. You can then pick a channel that’s less populated. 

the problem is RF comes from lots of devices, lights for example or poor cabling that runs near other cables, some home phones but in general it’s a small difference. 
it’s a standard reply to check networks and most likely is not the issue but worth checking.

if say you discover say you are on channel 1 and your neighbours are all on channel one as well but channel 11 shows no one on it you simply go into your Router and change to channel 11. Sounds fine but since most people have auto channel select channels are constantly moving and software for this can be a touch iffy. 
for example where I am there are lots of Wi-Fi signals and I try to keep into channels that have the least interference but in reality even if I do move it onto a channel that my neighbour uses I don’t see much in the way of interference for day to day stuff as mine can also see what’s being transmitted in packets and what devices they have.

[Raampage]

Note: Mine shows a R3 next to model under device info.

Also running latest firmwares on cameras and base station.

Also, also: I have a very solid internet connection with ~35Mbit UP, and up to ~900Mbit DOWN.

I am packing mine up shortly to return it.

Quality sucks most of the time.

Wired or not, next to base station or not.

I have an extensive background in video compression  - as I do it for a living.

It is HD.  Not clear and crisp, but it is technically HD frame size.

It is simply a low, variable bit rate steam.

Increasing the bitrate would mean that every system (possibly 100,000's of users?) would probably saturate their servers and their bandwidth faster than they could expand it.

It may even auto-throttle based on usage - I really don't know how they do it... but I have learned it's just not possible to get what I want out of this system.

It's not the cameras (unless all 6 are bad).  

Base station in plugged into a gigabit ethernet switch which also has the internet router attached to it.

It is a great system - exactly the options I wanted, but the quality is just too low to use as a security system.

I've invested over $900.00 in this (didn't want to run wires either) but it is simply not possible to identify someone at my door even.